A few examples.... If you play PG for the HEAT and it comes time for you to leave...if you just look at stats you would say...oh...shit this PG has very low assists and doesn't run an offense very well. However that PGs role on that team is to give the ball to Wade - Lebron - Bosh and wait in the corner ... shoot the three if all other options fail.

You MUST watch a team play in order have a valid opinion.

Except that if you look purely on stats you would see that Mario Chalmers just isn't that good. And the reality is.. he's not.

from a drafting side i like Ford and find hes pretty correct most of the time, but when he talks certain teams i want to punch him in his stupid face. 99% of the time when he talks toronto i wonder if he's ever watched a raptor game in his life.

Just for the record, Chad Ford and Brian Colangelo are good friends. One of the first podcasts Chad Ford ever did was with Brian, and they speak often, so perhaps his perspective is just skewed by getting the Colangelo spin?

A few examples.... If you play PG for the HEAT and it comes time for you to leave...if you just look at stats you would say...oh...shit this PG has very low assists and doesn't run an offense very well. However that PGs role on that team is to give the ball to Wade - Lebron - Bosh and wait in the corner ... shoot the three if all other options fail.

You MUST watch a team play in order have a valid opinion.

Par Example...I look at the stats and see DeRozan didn't score as much this year....did he take a step back? If I didn't watch the games I would say yes. However he went from second to 1st option, got the brunt of the defensive focus and the guy that helps him spread the floor was injured 75% of the season AND he nearly maintained his numbers in a MUCH slower offense and with expending so MUCH energy on defense. BUT if you are -insert basketball analyst here- and told "Hey go write an article on that dunk kid we robbed blind two years in a row"...the headline next day is going to be

"DeRozan Takes Step Back" by: Ollie P McFisterdaughter

i think you make some great points. could have used a better example than DD, though, because he DID regress. at this phase of his career, he's got to be showing actual improvement...at best, he stagnated (i.e. remained the same) in some areas, and actually regressed in others. i'm not talking about this from a stats-perspective, just what i witnessed on a game-to-game basis. he's got enough skill to be an effective player in this L, but not enough to be one on a consistent enough basis to be thought of as a key piece on a contending team.

he pretty much sums up the raps current biggest issues...they've got quite a few guys who would do quite well in a bench role. and by 'quite a few guys,' i mean 'all of their starters.'

TRUE LOVE - Sometimes you know it the instant you see it across the bar.

i think you make some great points. could have used a better example than DD, though, because he DID regress. at this phase of his career, he's got to be showing actual improvement...at best, he stagnated (i.e. remained the same) in some areas, and actually regressed in others. i'm not talking about this from a stats-perspective, just what i witnessed on a game-to-game basis. he's got enough skill to be an effective player in this L, but not enough to be one on a consistent enough basis to be thought of as a key piece on a contending team.

he pretty much sums up the raps current biggest issues...they've got quite a few guys who would do quite well in a bench role. and by 'quite a few guys,' i mean 'all of their starters.'

Food for thought. I watched a lot of the games this year and I guess we will have to agree to disagree on DeMar regressing.

My case summed up: The offense OVERALL was significantly slower. This limits his best skill, which is run outs and transition. He was asked to put a lot more energy into defense. The harder you play on D the harder it is to score as tired legs can really throw off a shot. Considering all of this and the defensive improvement and only a 1ppg drop in production with around the same efficiency...I really believe he improved.